: patterns aside :

no excuses this time. i got to a point where i realised i just never was prompt and efficient enough to update this blog. each time i had a 'story' in mind to share, i got distracted by someone or something. kept putting it on hold, till finally last night i decided to 'pretty up' the blog's look a little. now that it's slightly more lively than was the previous layout, i may just be more inclined to update it as regularly as i did before (which was never all that regular to begin with).

will summarise the Zs' developments in this entry.
so. picking up from where i left you ... May, was it? talk about 'putting things on hold'!

..........................................................

: on Zarif :

: he's all of 6 years old now, attending his last month in kindie

: he'll start the big school come January ... it's the Mummy who's feeling anxious + excited, he's mostly just excited, especially now that his best friend's been accepted to the school too

: he's showing more sides of him that make me go "aawww ..." (even if just silently to myself), growing more independent by the day ... of course, with that comes a lot of "but i know it already, Mummy ... you don't have to keep telling me how to do it" moments

: he was in the hospital for 4 days, for severe dehydration + food poisoning + high fever back in June ... 2 weeks of bad health, was a real champ in the hospital though despite going to the loo over 20 times in a day! it was heart-breaking to watch, especially when he kept apologising for being ill, thanking me over and over for taking care of him ... (insert "aawww..." here)

: he's finally started his menagji class which he seems to enjoy ... granted, it's also a once a week playdate with his best friend

: had "the best birthday party ever, Mummy" when he turned 6 couple months back, where i indulged in planning + hosting a (very!) last-minute Transformers party for him

: he is his sister's biggest fan, but manages quite a bit of sibling fights + jealousy just the same

: has a few times asked me to have another baby, ".. because ... i already have a baby sister, i need a baby brother now ... so that i have 1 girl and 1 boy .. and then enough, Mummy. no more babies!"

: is starting to show some interest in football now .. pretty late, considering the Daddy's such a footie fan

: still eats anything and everything, and still is fussy with drinks .. only water, occasionally Milo or chocolate milk

: started to puasa this past Ramadhan ... though only puasa makan, he still drank ... and only for 3 days

some random photos of Zarif since May ...

: enthusiastic :

: focused :

: his 6th party :

: precious #1 smile :

.......................................................

: on Zayaan :

: she turned 20 months few days back

: as far as weight charts go, her current weight at 20 months is at the very peak of the curve ... healthy, let's just say *wink*

: she's got as much enery as her abang has, and then some!

: she's very alert + observant, which as a result can impress + amuse you and then annoy you soon after when she mimics every.single.thing you do, i kid you not!

: her vocab's pretty good though, dare i say ... she's definitely picked up language at a faster rate than the brother did at this age ... as much as i can recall now, some words + phrases she can say now include mummy, daddy, abang, nak, tak nak, no, ya, here, there, this, that, what's this, what's that, who's this, who's that, where's this, where's that, apa tu, come, open, tutup, cushion, bam (when she wants to lie down), baby, car, daw (doll), susu, te-gen (Vitagen), ball, shoes, duduk, take out this, u'oh, jatuh, tow (throw) bottle/botten, spoon, bowl, cat, eyes, teeth, tummy, poo-poo, Pooh, Emma (Elmo), bear, tees (fish), atok (my dad), nana (her girl cousins), ama (all maids), book, down, one, too (two), tee (three), kaiiss (five), teex (six), sebben (seven), A, B, tee (C), hewwohh (hello), bye

: she adores and idolises her big brother too much ... she'll follow his every move, making her quite good at the whole Transformers acts and poses and "boom-ing" of cars and such

: she fights considerably with the brother too, often bullying him ... the bullying is more her to him, rather than him to her

: she has very little toys ... after noticing her favouring everyday household objects (bowls, colanders, spoons, cups, books, boxes) more than she does pretty girly dainty toys, we basically haven't bought her that many toys ... but she does like them wooden puzzles and building blocks though

: besides her occasional reaction to extreme heat and certain foods with high egg content, she pretty much eats anything and everything ... i'm blessed, i suppose, having kids who eat anything, nevermind that it's almost constantly too!

: her current favourite cartoon characters will be Pocoyo, Elmo and Pooh

: she's very much her Daddy's little girl ... everytime he's out of town for work, she will almost immediately fall ill, leaving me with mad sleepless nights, he comes home and she's back to her healthy self ... it's weird, but according to my parents, i was just the same as a little girl; would be down with high fever when my dad went away for work, he gets back into town, and i'm fine again ... funny watching how your kid(s) inherit your certain trait(s)

: she'll be turning 2 in 3 months time ... this time last year, i was already busy preparing + making little bird things for her 1st BIRD-day party ... this year, i haven't done a single thing yet for her party, but have finally decided on a theme ... yay me! (more on this as i progress along with the party preparations)

some random photos of Zayaan since May ...